May 16 (Bloomberg) -- Kentucky Derby winner Orb will leave
from the rail and is the early favorite at even money in the
nine-horse field for the 138th Preakness Stakes, the second leg
of thoroughbred horse racing’s Triple Crown.

Orb, with jockey Joel Rosario aboard, would become the 34th
horse to capture the Derby and Preakness with a win at Pimlico
Race Course in Baltimore on May 18. Eleven went on to win the
Triple Crown title with a victory at the Belmont Stakes, held
this year on June 8 in New York.

“Nothing we can do about it,” Orb’s trainer, Shug
McGaughey, said yesterday in a televised interview when asked
about being on the rail. “It’s just a nine-horse field. The
horses will spread themselves out.”

Nine horses have won the Preakness after leaving from the
first gate, the last being Tabasco Cat in 1994.

“Joel will know what to do,” McGaughey said. “He’s
always said it’s the shortest way around.”

Mylute, ridden by Rosie Napravnik, was made the second
favorite at 5-1 and will leave from the fifth post position.
Departing is 6-1 from the fourth gate and Goldencents is next at
8-1, leaving the gate next to Orb.

“I feel like the Red Wings,” Goldencents trainer Doug
O’Neill, who won last year’s Preakness with I’ll Have Another,
said in a reference to Detroit’s National Hockey League team,
which is in the second round of the playoffs. “We’re on to the
next round.”

Goldencents, whose owners include University of Louisville
basketball coach Rick Pitino, finished 17th in the Derby at
Churchill Downs on May 4.

Carulli’s Finale

D. Wayne Lukas, who has won the Preakness five times, has
trained one-third of the field. Will Take Charge was given 12-1
odds, followed by Oxbow at 15-1 and Titletown at 30-1, the
longshot in the field.

“I think there is a chance Oxbow drew a post position that
is good for him,” said Lukas, whose horse finished sixth in the
Derby.

Pimlico handicapper Frank Carulli assigned his final odds
for the Preakness. He will be leaving the job he has had since
2002 for Las Vegas.